'Flatford Mill (‘Scene on a Navigable River’)', John Constable, 1816–7 | Tate Catalogue entry Summary Constable began this picture, his largest exhibition canvas to be painted mainly outdoors, a few months before his marriage to Maria Bicknell (see Tate Gallery T03900 ). He wrote to Maria from Bergholt on 12 September 1816: 'I am now in the midst of a large picture here which I had contemplated for the next exhibition - it would have made my mind easy had it been forwarder - I cannot help it - we must not expect to have all our wishes complete' (in R.B. Beckett, ed., John Constable's Correspondence, II, Ipswich 1964, p.203). Prior to 1814, the artist produced his exhibition pictures in the studio, working from oil sketches and drawings , but in that year he declared his intention to make finished paintings from nature.

The summers of 1816 and 1817 were the last occasions upon which Constable spent any length of time at East Bergholt, and the last in which the artist painted directly from the scenery of his Suffolk childhood. Constable frequently depicted the scenes of his 'careless boyhood' which, he wrote to his friend Archdeacon Fisher, he associated with 'all that lies on the banks of the Stour. They made me a painter (& I am gratefull)' (letter of 23 October 1821; in Beckett, VI, 1968, p.78). The Constable family business was at Flatford, about a mile from East Bergholt. The family had a watermill on the Stour for grinding corn, and a dry dock for building the barges to transport grain to Mistley for shipment to London, as well as a watermill upstream at Dedham. The passage up and down the river required the use of horse-drawn barges; the ropes had to be disconnected in order to allow the barges to be poled under Flatford bridge. In this picture, a boy is disconnecting a rope and another sits astride a tow-horse.

Constable painted the inscription to appear as if it had been scratched in the earth with a stick. Although the painting was probably executed largely on the spot, various details were almost certainly added in the studio, such as the boy and the horse, the timberwork in the foreground and the mooring-post on the left. It is known from x-rays that the artist painted out a horse on the tow-path and substituted the figures of two boys. Constable evidently experienced difficulty painting outdoors on such a large canvas as this one, for after showing it at the Royal Academy in 1817, he repainted the tops of the trees and the entire sky, presumably in time for the picture's second showing at the British Institution in January 1818. Constable made several drawings and oil sketches of the subject from various angles, but the only certain preparatory studies for the picture are an oil sketch in the collection of David Thomson and two drawings, one in the Tate (Tate Gallery T05493 ). This is a pencil tracing of an image made with a brush on a sheet of glass held on an easel in front of the subject itself.

The tracing was made by placing a piece of paper over the image on the glass, and was squared for transfer to the canvas. It contains the two barges but none of the figures seen in the painting. Further reading: Leslie Parris and Ian Fleming-Williams, Constable, exhibition catalogue, Tate Gallery, London 1991, pp.17, 69, 120, 179-81, 229, 286, 413, 467, 469, 510, reproduced p.181 in colour Terry Riggs Read more Display caption Landscape painting flourished in the 19th century, ranging from the epic, through rustic nostalgia to the naturalism championed by John Constable. He based what he called his ‘natural painture’ on study of nature, experience of his subjects and attention to working life, especially in the Stour Valley where his father was a miller and merchant. When possible, he sketched or worked on pictures outdoors. Flatford Mill shows barges approaching Flatford footbridge after passing through the lock near his father’s mill. Its bright, airy realism was unprecedented at the time.

Gallery label, February 2016 Catalogue entry N01273 Scene on a Navigable River (Flatford Mill) 1816–17, dated & exhibited 1817 Oil on canvas, 40×50 (101.7×127). Inscribed by the artist ‘Joll Constable. f:1817.’ bottom centre, in simulation of writing incised in the earth. Prov: Executors of John Constable, sold Foster and Sons 16 May 1838 (54, ‘Flatford Mills, Horse and Barge’), bt. in by C.R. Leslie at £52.10s. for the Constable family; bequeathed by Isabel Constable to the National Gallery 1888, as the gift of Maria Louisa, Isabel and Lionel Bicknell Constable; transferred to the Tate Gallery 1957. Accession N01273. Exh: R.A. 1817 (255, ‘Scene on a navigable river’); B.I.

1818 (91, ‘Scene on the Banks of a River’, size of frame 58×68 inches); R.A., Old Masters, 1871(242); Leeds 1913(68); Tate Gallery 1937(p.18, No.31); Two Hundred Years of British Painting, Public Library and Art Gallery, Huddersfield, 1946(92); Hamburg, Oslo, Stockholm and Copenhagen 1949–50(14); Venice 1950(10); Manchester 1956(18); Moscow and Leningrad 1960(57); Tate Gallery 1971(92); Tate Gallery 1976(151). Engr: in mezzotint by David Lucas as ‘Flatford Mill’ and published by him 1845, although the publication line reads 1844 (Shirley 1930, No.46).

Lit: Holmes 1902, pp.83, 119, 243; Shirley 1937, pp.lxvii, 99,120; Davies 1946, pp.28–9; Kitson 1957, pp.344–5; Beckett 1961, Paintings: Suffolk B(40–41) No.86; Reynolds 1965, pp.56–60; Charles Rhyne, ‘Fresh Light on John Constable’, Apollo, LXXXVII, 1968, p.230; Taylor 1973, pp.28,41,43; Smart and Brooks 1976, pp.68–72, 134; Hoozee 1979, No.233. ‘Flatford Mill’, as it is generally called today, was the forerunner of the series of six-foot canvases of river subjects which Constable began exhibiting in 1819.

He had already shown a river landscape of the same size as No.14 - ‘Landscape: Boys fishing’ in 18131 - but this did not depict the working life of the Stour. In ‘Flatford Mill’ and the larger canvases that followed (‘The White Horse’, ‘Stratford Mill’, ‘The Hay Wain’ and so on), barges and bargees, towing-horses and their riders, and the operation of locks became central features. No.14 shows the view from the southern end of the footbridge at Flatford, looking along the tow-path to Flatford lock and the mill buildings beyond. The viewpoint, slightly above ground-level, is on the slope up to the bridge, the first timbers of which appear in the bottom left corner of the picture. On the river a pair or ‘gang’ of barges is about to be poled under the bridge. The figure crouching on the bank behind the towing-horse seems to be drawing in the disconnected tow-rope.

Like so many of Constable's pictures, the composition had its origin in the 1814 sketchbook (V.&A., r.132),2 page 61 of which (Fig.1), dated 14 August, corresponds fairly closely with the centre and right hand side of the painting . Page 63 in the same sketchbook (Fig.2) is not directly related but shows from a different angle the clump of trees seen at the fork of the river in the left middle-distance of No.14. Page 10 in the 1813 sketchbook (Fig.3, V.&A., r.121)3 gives a view of the whole scene but from the opposite bank, just upstream of the bridge. This variant composition appears again in an oil study now in the collection of Mr A.L.Gordon (Fig.4, h.170).4 Two further oil studies in private collections are more closely related to the painting.

In one (Fig.5, tg 1976 No.130, h.231)5 the river and mill buildings are seen from the bridge rather than from the slope up to it, while the other (Fig.6, tg 1976 No.131, h.232),6though vertical in format, presents the subject from more or less the same viewpoint as in the painting. However, the study (if study it is) most directly connected with No.14 is one formerly in the collection of P.A.B.Widener (Fig.7, W.Roberts, Pictures in the Collection of P.A.B.Widener ... British & Modern French Schools, 1915, No.2, h.617).7 This lacks the barges and human figures but includes the foreground horse and shows another horse further along the tow-path, where the two boys appear in No.14.

The authenticity of this work has been questioned but a point in its favour emerged when No.14 was x-rayed by the Courtauld Institute in 1975: Constable originally painted a horse in exactly the position indicated in the Widener picture, i.e. where the reclining boy now appears (Fig.8). Once looked for, the painted-out horse can still be seen. It seems likely that the standing boy with his long stick was originally shown feeding this horse and, perhaps because the incident distracted too much from the distant view, that Constable decided to move the animal to its present, less conspicuous position beside the lock, substituting for it a second, reclining, boy. The horse's collar and towing gear were, however, left behind on the grass beside the boy and his new companion. The two privately owned oil studies reproduced in Figs.5–6 and the Widener picture were presumably all made after 14 August 1814 since they omit a large branch which Constable noted on the foremost tree in his sketchbook drawing that day (Fig. 1).

On 12 September 1816, three weeks before their marriage, Constable wrote to Maria Bicknell from East Bergholt: ‘I am now in the midst of a large picture here which I had contemplated for the next exhibition - it would have made my mind easy had it been forwarder’ (JCC II, p.203). The picture was almost certainly ‘Flatford Mill’. Farington definitely saw it when he called on Constable on 2 January 1817 ‘to look at several painted studies from nature made by Him last Summer & autumn; also a large landscape composed of the Scenery abt Dedham in Essex.

I exhorted Him to compleat them.-’ (Farington was frequently rather vague about the topography of Constable's pictures).8 Although much approved by some Academicians (including Beechey, who seems to have set going a rumour about Constable's imminent election to the Academy: JCC II, pp.219–20), the painting attracted little notice at the 1817 exhibition and failed to sell.9 When he got it back Constable appears to have repainted the foliage at the top of the large tree at the right and most of the smaller tree behind it. Pentimenti can be seen in these areas and the 1975 x-rays show the shape of the smaller tree to have been more regularly curved, as on p.61 of the 1814 sketchbook (Fig. 1). A large, detailed drawing of the two trees (Fig.9, V.&A., r.161, tg 1976 No.154),10 dated 17 October 1817, i.e. well after the R.A.

exhibition, corresponds very exactly with the repainted areas, while differing in other parts, and was presumably made specifically for these revisions. Constable's further work on the picture made no difference to its immediate fate. It found no buyer when shown at the British Institution in 181811 and even twenty years later, in the artist's sale, failed to reach its reserve price. 1. Probably the picture in the Fairhaven Collection at Anglesey Abbey, which measures 40×49 1/2 inches (tg 1976 No.118, h.174). 2. Page size, 3 3/8×4 1/4 (8×10.8). 3. Pencil, 3 1/2×4 3/4 (8.9×12.1). 4. Oil on canvas, 9 13/16×7 1/2 (25×19). 5. Oil on paper, 4 1/2×6 1/8 (11.4×15.6). 6.

Oil on canvas, 9 1/2×7 1/2 (24.1×19). Ian Fleming-Williams suggests that this sketch is the earliest known example of Constable painting with a palette knife. 7. Oil on canvas, 13 1/2×16 1/4 (34.3×41.3). Fig.7 is taken from the illustration in the 1915 catalogue: the picture is untraced today. 8. The possibility that Constable was already working on ‘Flatford Mill’ in 1815 was discussed in a footnote to the entry on the picture in the 1976 Constable exhibition catalogue. That note, however, overlooked Beckett's plausible identification (JCC IV, p.45) of the picture Constable began in 1815 with the work D.P. Watts bought the following year, i.e. ‘A wood: Autumn’, exhibited at the R.A. in 1816. 9. The Literary Gazette, 10 May 1817, p.249, mentioned the painting as ‘a river scene, in very improved style’.

When the work reappeared at the British Institution the following year, the same journal commented: ‘There is quite a magical effect in this landscape, which reaches a degree of the deceptive in art which we rarely see displayed, without any of those sacrifices we find so often made to form, colour, or composition. It is in short a perfect panorama, but a panorama not indebted to the usual means called in to produce panoramic effect. The character of the pencilling is no less extraordinary; - and the making out of the foliage denotes great labour to attain the rude in nature, which is yet far removed from neglect’ (21 March 1818, p.186). 10. Pencil, 21 3/4×15 1/8 (55.2×38.5). 11. Annals of the Fine Arts, III, 1818, No.8, p.175 reported the sale of the picture to James Sedgwick but this was presumably a mistake since the painting appeared in the artist's sale in 1838.

The same journal named Thomas Barber as the purchaser of Constable's other exhibit at the British Institution that year, ‘A Cottage in a Cornfield’, but Constable had almost certainly sold this work to William Venables: see Ian Fleming-Williams, ‘A rediscovered Constable: the Venables Cottage in a Cornfield’, The Connoisseur, Vol.198, 1978, p.135. Judy Ivy kindly drew the reference in Annals of the Fine Arts to my attention.

Published in: Flatford Mill by John Constable | Oil Painting Reproduction by John Constable England, 1776 - 1837 Flatford Mill by John Constable Flatford Mill Art Info.: 1816 - 1817 Oil on canvas 40 x 50 inches (101.7 x 127 cm) Tate Gallery, London, England Tags: Custom Oil Painting Reproduction From Us Medium: Handmade Oil Painting Reproduction on Canvas Delivery: Door to door by express Rating: 5 stars - based on 78 reviews Choose Standard Sizes 16x20 inch (40x51 cm)$85 $76.5 20x24 inch (51x61 cm)$95 $85.5 24x36 inch (61x91 cm)$145 $130.5 30x36 inch (76x91 cm)$165 $148.5 30x40 inch (76x102 cm)$175 $157.5 36x48 inch (91x1

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NOT stretched and NOT framed. * Hand-painted John Constable Oil Painting Reproduction : Flatford Mill 100% Money Back Guarantee If, in the unlikely event you were dissatisfied with the painting after reviewing it in person, it can be returned for a full refund for up to 7 days after delivery. When you receive the painting; you are free to return it for more revisions or else for a full refund minus our actual shipping cost -- which is. Flatford Mill | artble.com Flatford Mill Scene on a Navigable River Height (cm): Flatford Mill John Constable John Constable always chose compositions which not only showed the beauty of his native Suffolk, but also incorporated people working on the land. This human interest not only makes his work more visually interesting but also tells us something of the world Constable grew up in, and his idea of an idyllic countryside. Flatford Mill shows men working on the River Stour, work which would have helped bring coal and other goods to and from London, ensuring the successful running of the Constable family mills. Hard work and prosperity went hand in hand in Constable's world. His father worked all his life running Flatford Mill and later Denham Mill.

Constable was exposed to the tough lives of the country workers from an early age and along with the happiness many people derived from this life, such experiences helped to shape his view of an idyllic England. Harmony with nature: Constable was known to be a very religious man and he lived at a time when the Anglican Church was at its strongest within England. All members of society would have gone to church regularly and not attending would have been frowned upon. Certainly in Constable's merchant class world, a strong moral code was vital and no-one more than the artist himself preferred God's own creation over the idle frivolities of the day. John Constable always chose to paint nature as it was and was particularly disdainful about his contemporaries who chose to ignore or enhance its virtues for their own gain. This attitude is evident in Flatford Mill, where the artist's incorporates all aspects of country life. Flatford Mill Inspirations for the Work Claude Lorrain : This artist was a master of Baroque landscape painting and a pioneer of a genre that was not deemed proper in the portrait painting art world of the time. Lorrain's landscape painting helped to make it popular in the centuries to come.

Constable esteemed Claude as 'the most perfect landscape painter the world ever saw'. Peter Paul Rubens: As one of the earliest and most well respected painters to produce landscapes Rubens helped to make them desirable and drew inspiration from his surroundings in his Chateau de Steen in the outskirts of Antwerp, much as Constable did from his beloved Suffolk. Flatford Mill Analysis Flatford Mill John Constable Constable completed Flatford Mill in 1817 and as with most of his other works it has become a classical scene of 19th century England. Although it's an idyllic scene it is also one which embodies the hardworking countryside which Constable witnessed firsthand at his father's mill. The artist uses a number of techniques which were quite radical at the time and many of them were developed for use in Constable's great six-foot Stour scenes. Composition: Constable makes the focus of this painting the workers in the forground with the river and path leading off into the distance towards the mill in the background. By doing this he creates a broad vista within which he can contain all the detail he wanted to.

The canal to the left and the stream to the right lie at either side of the path and create symmetry along with the blue sky which is reflected in both. Techniques: Constable was one of the first artists to use the impasto technique and this thick application of paint allowed him to create movement and depth in the piece which previously may have seemed flat. Highlighting and lowlighting also gave Constable 's paintings a realistic edge, with red lowlights in the trees and white upon the water. Use of light: Constable was a crusader for using natural light in paintings, something which many of his contemporaries did not indulge in. The artist was passionate that with natural light the countryside could be seen in all its glory. He particularly hated the used of foiled lighting for the classical and biblical scenes which were popular with 18th century patrons and critics. Color palette: The natural palette used in Flatford Mill is highlighted by Constable's use of red to compliment the greens of the trees and add depth to the greenery which may have otherwise seemed lifeless. The artist's otherwise neutral tones are also brought to life by the beautiful summer day's setting which Constable often favoured in his countryside scenes, as well as the realism in the clouds.

Method: Although Constable is renowned for painting classic scenes of Suffolk, he often spemt time in the countryside making sketches prior to starting the final canvas. Flatford Mill Critical Reception Flatford Mill John Constable Flatford Mill was a forerunner for many of Constable's six-foot scenes based along the River Stour. It was such scenes that would eventually establish the artist's name in England and France and because of this Flatford Mill was not thought to be a painting of any great value when it was first presented in 1817. In modern times Flatford Mill has featured in many exhibitions and is noted for its preliminary sketches which illustrate Constable's development and how he went about working on a painting. For this reason Flatford Mill is remarkable, as it is not often that the viewer gets to see how a painting evolved along with the finished product. Flatford Mill Related Paintings Our Old Mill George Inness Flatford Mill was a forerunner for many of Constable's six-foot scenes based along the River Stour.

It was such scenes that would eventually establish the artist's name in England and France and because of this Flatford Mill was not thought to be a painting of any great value when it was first presented in 1817. Other works by Constable: Weymouth Bay: Bowleaze Cove and Jordon Hill John Constable Flatford Mill, owned by Constable's father and later his brother was integral to the young artist's childhood. It is possible that for this reason, Constable chose to make several oil sketches of this area all of which can be seen as precursors to Flatford Mill itself. Schooled in the local village school for most of his childhood, Constable would spend most of his youth in the Suffolk, sketching the landscape which would feature in all his artwork as an adult. Constable focused on the natural English landscape which he had idolized since childhood. His paintings rebelled against the work of artists of the Neoclassical style who had simply used landscape to display historical and mythical scenes. Instead, he used his work to showcase the beauty and power of nature and his work is today synonymous with the Suffolk landscape and the Romantic Movement he embodied.

The artist's most famous works are all based on the Suffolk countryside with which he was so enamored. His techniques and methods of capturing natural light and movement were innovative and still inspire artists to this day. Now referred to by many as 'Constable Country' this county in the south of England will forever be associated with the artist and is thought by many to be the epitome of classical English countryside. As the son of a mill owner, John Constable also understood the ways in which the countryside worked and he often included country workers in his paintings. Flatford Mill Art Period Bathers at La Grenouillère Claude Monet John Constable was born in the second half of the 18th century, at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution when poverty was rife within the poorer communities of England. In the art world, many professionals were rebelling against the pure and realistic lines of the Neoclassical period and started producing paintings and sculpture which took the viewer into a new world, far removed from the realities of everyday life. In this respect Constable was different; he loved painting nature and used it as the focus of his pictures, creating realistic landscapes.

His style was to take a natural landscape and paint it just as he saw it without enhancing or changing it. This realism made Constable's work stand out from his contemporaries as well as the techniques he used to create a more life-like feel to his paintings. Constable was a landscape revolutionary and it is thanks to him that the work of Monet and the French Impressionists developed in the way it did. Flatford Mill Bibliography To read more about Constable and his art please choose from the following recommended sources. • Bailey, Anthony. John Constable: A Kingdom of his Own. Vintage; Reprint edition, 2007 • Clarkson, Jonathan. Constable. Phaidon Press Ltd. , 2010 • Cormack, Malcolm. Constable. Oxford: Phaidon, 1986 • Cove, Sarah, et al. Constable: The Great Landscapes. Tate Publishing, 2006 • Gayford, Martin. Constable In Love: Love, Landscape, Money and the Making of a Great Painter. Penguin, 2010 • Gayford, Martin. Constable Portraits: The Painter and His Circle.

National Portrait Gallery Publications, 2009 • Leslie, C. R. Memoirs of the life of John Constable, Esq. , R. A. 2nd ed. Phaidon, 1951 • Parkinson, Ronald. John Constable: the man and his art. V&A Publications, 1998 Want a Printed Canvas? John Constable Flatford Mill painting anysize 50% off - Flatford Mill painting for sale Our return policy is very simple: If you're not happy with John Constable Flatford Mill that you made on PaintingHere.com, for any reason, you can return it to us within 50 days of the order date. As soon as it arrives, we'll issue a full refund for the entire purchase price. Please note - PaintingHere.com does not reimburse the outgoing or return shipping charges unless the return is due to a defect in quality. Flatford Mill, Suffolk Suffolk Barns Flatford Mill, Suffolk A visit to Flatford Mill in Flatford, East Bergholt, makes for a relaxing day out for all the family. The scene has been immortalised by John Constable in his painting of The Haywain and the Mill is still recognisable.

Attached to the Mill, which is a Grade 1 listed Watermill originally built in 1733, is a 17th Century miller's cottage which is also Grade I listed. Flatford Mill image kindly provided by the Field Studies Council (see below for information on their courses at Flatford) The Watermill is located in the centre of Dedham Vale, a wonderfully English village close to the Essex/Suffolk border. This is part of the Dedham Vale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty so take your time to savour the area. Flatford Mill The Mill was once owned by John Constable’s father and Constable made the Mill and the surrounding area the subject of many of his works of art, which are now world famous. For information on Suffolk's talented artists please see our guide to Gainsborough and Constable . The mill is located just downstream from Bridge Cottage which is a 16th-century thatched cottage owned by the National Trust. You can enjoy an exhibition of Constable's work here and perhaps a course too as the Cottage is leased to the Field Studies Council . The Field Studies Council is an environmental education charity committed to helping people understand and be inspired by the natural world.

Established in 1943, the FSC has become internationally respected for its national network of 17 education centres. The Flatford Centre is just an hour from London and offers visitors of all ages a unique learning environment. The rich mosaic of lowland landscapes, wildlife habitats and places of historic interest in this beautiful part of East Anglia are reflected in the Centre's wide-ranging programme of environment and art-based courses. Over 300 residential and day activities are offered each year for people of all ages. Click on the link above to find out more about FSC's courses at Bridge Cottage. One of the best ways to experience the countryside that John Constable knew and loved is to take the Constable Country Walk around the picturesque Stour Valley. Follow the signposts from Flatford along the River Stour . Alternatively you could take part in one of the National Trusts daily guided walks (April-Sept) to learn more about the area and John Constable. Alternatively between Spring & the end of October you could take a trip on the River courtesy of the River Stour Trust in Stour Trusty II.

Find out more here - Flatford/Dedham River Trips with the River Stour Trust Flatford Mill There are a number of country pubs, restaurants and cafes in the Stour Valley and nearby at Dedham. If you want to extend your visit to Flatford there are a number of accommodation options available including - Have you had a day out at Flatford Mill? Please send all reviews to us at suffolkguides.admin@suffolktouristguide.com . August 2015 - from Andrew Barlow My family and I (myself, my wife and my two teenage boys) decided to have a holiday in Suffolk this summer, as this was a place I had not been to since childhood and that my wife had never been to. An absolute must was a visit to Flatford Mill via the river path along the Stour from Dedham. I remembered a hot summer day, when I was 16 years old and my brother Paul was 18 years old. We had visited the Mill (made famous by The Hay Wain, a painting by John Constable) as my brother was to study Art History at Sussex University that September. After the visit to the Mill we decided to swim in the river.

We imagined we were in the Dubonnet advertisement running on the Television at that time. It depicted French peasants of the 19th century swimming in a river accompanied by songs of the auvergne (bailero); so romantic! On the day I visited with my family, 35 years and a generation later, the same weather hung in the air and my boys swam in the river under a twisted willow. I dipped my feet in and my wife took pictures. It was idyllic, it was perfect and the sight of Flatford Mill was beautiful, just beautiful. My brother had died two weeks earlier at the age of 53, before his time. He had become Dr Paul Barlow, a renown art historian specialising in late Victorian art. And so this had become a special homage and a special place for me. Paul leaves behind a body of work about beauty which is made real at Flatford. The river and the Mill will always hold special meaning for me. One of his favourite pieces of music was River Man by Nick Drake the lyrics of which include, "If he tells me all he knows, About the way his river flows .......

in summertime" Andrew Barlow Flatford Mill from a Lock on the Stour | John Constable | V&A Search the Collections Flatford Mill from a Lock on the Stour John Constable, born 1776 - died 1837 Flatford Mill from a Lock on the Stour Object: John Constable, born 1776 - died 1837 (artist) Materials and Techniques: Download PDF version This shows the mill that belonged to John Constable's father. It is a study for a painting exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1812. Constable deleted the figure at the left - a man opening the lock gates - in the final composition. Constable recalled: 'I associate my "careless boyhood" to all that lies on the banks of the Stour'. Physical description Painting of Flatford Mill with water and trees.

Place of Origin John Constable, born 1776 - died 1837 (artist) Materials and Techniques 'Minna Decr 27th 47' Dimensions Height: 24.8 cm estimate, Width: 29.8 cm estimate, Height: 452 mm frame, Width: 505 mm frame, Depth: 40 mm frame Object history note Given by Isabel Constable, 1888 Historical context note 'In the year 1811 Constable's exhibits at the Royal Academy comprised 'Twilight', and 'Dedham Vale: morning' (now in the collection of Sir Richard Proby). He visited Suffolk in the spring and paid his first visit to Salisbury in the autumn: this was probably the occasion of his first meeting with John Fisher, who was to become his closest friend. His attachment to Maria Bicknell became known during this year, and he received her father's permission to write to her in October.' [G Reynolds, 1973, p. 69] Descriptive line Oil painting, 'Flatford Mill from a lock on the Stour', by John Constable, Britain, ca.

1811 Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no) Parris, Leslie and Ian Fleming-Williams, Constable London : The Tate Gallery, 1991. ISBN 1854370707 / 1854370715. 544 p. : ill. (some col.). Lyles, Anne, ed. Constable : The Great Landscapes London: Tate Publishing, 2006. ISBN: 1854375830. Robert Hoozee, ed. British Vision. Observation and Imagination in British Art 1750-1950 / with contributions from Mark Evans, Mark Haworth-Booth and Stephen Calloway. Ghent: Museum voor Schone Kunsten; Mercatorfonds, 2007. ISBN: 978 90 6153 749 6 100 Great Paintings in The Victoria & Albert Museum.London: V&A, 1985, p.104 Christine Dixon, Ron Radford and Lucina Ward, Turner to Monet.

The Triumph of Landscape Painting Canberra: National Gallery of Australia, 2008. ISBN: 9780642541635. Catalogue of the Constable Collection, Graham Reynolds, Victoria and Albert Museum, London: HMSO, 1973, pp. 69-72 Labels and date Label - author unknown This picture portrays a scene at one of Constable's father's mills on the river Stour. He has used a canvas prepared with a warm reddish ground to act as a tonal background to his colours which are applied in thick brushstrokes. No single thing or object is precisely defined and the picture is not so much a portrayal of a particular place as a study of the weather at a particular time. [] Materials Boat-Building near Flatford Mill | John Constable | V&A Search the Collections Boat-Building near Flatford Mill John Constable, born 1776 - died 1837 (painter (artist)) Materials and Techniques: Given by John Sheepshanks, 1857 Museum number: Download PDF version This oil painting portrays the construction of a barge at a dry-dock owned by Constable's father.

It is based on a tiny pencil drawing in a sketchbook at the V&A. Constable painted the landscape entirely in the open air. His biographer C. R. Leslie praised its 'atmospheric truth', such that 'the tremulous vibration of the heated air near the ground seems visible'. Physical description The scene is a pleasant summer's day on the banks of the river Stour. A barge is being constructed in Constable's father's boat-yard by the mill to carry his flour down to Mistley in Essex on its way to London. The unfinished boat is shown with a degree of detail unusual for Constable, but it is not painted with any more care than the surrounding trees. The general effect is of a placid, tranquil and uneventful day.

Place of Origin John Constable, born 1776 - died 1837 (painter (artist)) Materials and Techniques oil on canvas Dimensions Height: 50.8 cm estimate, Width: 61.6 cm estimate, Height: 73.5 cm Frame, Width: 84.2 cm Frame Object history note Given by John Sheepshanks, 1857 Historical context note In 1815 Constable exhibited five paintings and three drawings at the Royal Academy, including 'Boat-building' (No. 137). His mother died early this year and he was in Suffolk in May. He left London again for Suffolk on 6 July and remained there most of the year, being detained during December by his father's serious illness. [G Reynolds, 1973, p. 106] Descriptive line Oil painting entitled 'Boat-Building near Flatford Mill' by John Constable. Great Britain, 1815. Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no) Parris, Leslie and Ian Fleming-Williams, Constable London : The Tate Gallery, 1991.

ISBN 1854370707 / 1854370715. 544 p. : ill. (some col.) Catalogue of the Constable Collection, Graham Reynolds, Victoria and Albert Museum, London: HMSO, 1973, pp. 106, 107 100 Great Paintings in The Victoria & Albert Museum,London: V&A, 1985, p.106 Evans, M., with N. Costaras and C. Richardson, John Constable. Oil Sketches from the Victoria and Albert Museum, London: V&A, 2011, p. 20, fig. 14. Production Note Flatford | National Trust National Trust Bridge Cottage National Trust / John Flude Misty River Stour at Flatford Tamasin Davies Early morning mist at Flatford Justin Minns Explore Constable Country John Constable Exhibition Visit our new John Constable exhibition to find out more about this famous English artist, his life and work.

Follow the steps down from the car park, cross the road and you will find the exhibition opposite in the disabled parking area Take a closer look at the buildings Find out about the pretty hamlet of Flatford which includes Bridge Cottage, Flatford Mill, The Granary, Valley Farm as well as the Lock and the Dry Dock. Bridge Cottage is the only building you can go into although Valley Farm is open for occasional events. Get out and about with us this winter An activity for all the family. Flatford has its own series of Geocaches ready to be discovered ... but beware of muggles! The Boat House Gallery A new exhibition at Boat House Gallery, Flatford 5 November 2016-26 February 2017 For families Our wonderful homemade pastry case is filled with a tasty mixture using a tangy cheddar and cottage cheese. Served with a side salad and chutney. Bake of the Month National Trust Flatford Shop Whether you're looking for a gift, book or plant to remind you of your visit you’re bound to find something in our shop. The shop will be closed for 6 weeks for a refit from 1 January 2017.

Volunteering at Flatford Managing the views Annually our Suffolk National Trust conservation volunteers clear mace reed from the scene in Constable's 'The Hay Wain' painting. Paul has been volunteering at Flatford since April 2007 Places nearby Discover the stories behind this eclectic home. Join Enjoy homemade food in our peaceful riverside tea-room Local gifts and Constable souvenirs in our charming shop Free entry Parking, 200 yards from Bridge Cottage, pay on entry, £4 charge per car (free for members) Dogs on leads welcome Groups welcome - please contact us before your visit Family Pushchairs and baby back-carriers admitted Regular family events and activities 50 things activity bag available from the car park reception or Bridge Cottage. Baby changing facility Cycle stands situated by the dry dock Accessibility There is level entrance to the shop, tea-room, information centre and Bridge Cottage (uneven floors inside cottage) Adapted toilet in the information centre Disabled car parking and drop-off point PMV, wheelchair and golf buggy available We have an accessible countryside trail suitable for PMV Braille guide Close Explore Constable Country Flatford lies in the heart of the beautiful Dedham Vale.

This charming hamlet was the inspiration for some of John Constable's most famous pictures, for example, the Hay Wain or Boatbuilding near Flatford Mill among many others. Wandering beside the River Stour or looking at Flatford Mill and Willy Lott's House you can feel as if you are actually walking through one of his paintings. Take a look at the brand new exhibition about Constable at Flatford and enjoy the riverside tearoom. Exhibitions by contemporary artists are held in the Boat House Gallery. We have plenty of parking and you can also come on foot by following the River Stour from Dedham or Manningtree. This is great walking countryside so you can take the family out, walk the dog or simply step back in time and absorb the places Constable knew and loved. Telephone Flatford, East Bergholt, Suffolk, CO7 6UL By cycle Cycle route information On foot Accessible from East Bergholt, Dedham and Manningtree. St Edmund Way and Stour Valley Path both run alongside Flatford and the journey is about 1¾ miles from Manningtree Railway Station. OS Explorer Map 196.

River River Stour Trust operate a river transport from Dedham to Flatford Bridge Cottage on Saturdays throughout the summer. Check with the Stour Valley Trust website for availablility. By train The nearest railway station is Manningtree which is 1¾ miles from Flatford by footpath or 3½ miles by road. Cycle hire available from Manningtree Railway Station. By road South of East Bergholt well signposted from the B1070. Parking: 200 yards from Bridge Cottage in the National Trust car park. £4 per car or free to National Trust members. SatNav: Postcode CO7 6UL By bus Frequent services from Colchester and Ipswich bus stations to East Bergholt via Manningtree Railway Station. The Dedham Vale Hopper Bus operates 7 July to 29 August 2015 stopping at Manningtree Railway Station, Flatford, East Bergholt, Stratford St Mary, Dedham, Lawford and Manningtree Town Centre. Flatford Admission free What is Gift Aid? Most of our places run the Gift Aid on Entry scheme at their admission points.

Under this scheme, if you're not a member you have the choice of two entry tickets: Gift Aid Admission or Standard admission If the place runs Gift Aid on Entry, we'll offer you the Gift Aid Admission prices. But it's entirely up to you which ticket you choose. If you want the Standard Admission instead, just let us know when you come to pay. Gift Aid Admission includes a 10 per cent or more voluntary donation. Gift Aid Admissions let us reclaim tax on the whole amount paid* — an extra 25 per cent — potentially a very significant boost to our places' funds. An extra £1 paid under the scheme can be worth over £3 to the National Trust as shown below: Payment of the additional percentage donation is entirely voluntary, so if you prefer to pay the standard admission please advise our reception staff at the till point. 'Flatford Mill (‘Scene on a Navigable River’)', John Constable, 1816–7 | Tate Catalogue entry Summary Constable began this picture, his largest exhibition canvas to be painted mainly outdoors, a few months before his marriage to Maria Bicknell (see Tate Gallery T03900 ).

He wrote to Maria from Bergholt on 12 September 1816: 'I am now in the midst of a large picture here which I had contemplated for the next exhibition - it would have made my mind easy had it been forwarder - I cannot help it - we must not expect to have all our wishes complete' (in R.B. Beckett, ed., John Constable's Correspondence, II, Ipswich 1964, p.203). Prior to 1814, the artist produced his exhibition pictures in the studio, working from oil sketches and drawings , but in that year he declared his intention to make finished paintings from nature. The summers of 1816 and 1817 were the last occasions upon which Constable spent any length of time at East Bergholt, and the last in which the artist painted directly from the scenery of his Suffolk childhood. Constable frequently depicted the scenes of his 'careless boyhood' which, he wrote to his friend Archdeacon Fisher, he associated with 'all that lies on the banks of the Stour.

They made me a painter (& I am gratefull)' (letter of 23 October 1821; in Beckett, VI, 1968, p.78). The Constable family business was at Flatford, about a mile from East Bergholt. The family had a watermill on the Stour for grinding corn, and a dry dock for building the barges to transport grain to Mistley for shipment to London, as well as a watermill upstream at Dedham. The passage up and down the river required the use of horse-drawn barges; the ropes had to be disconnected in order to allow the barges to be poled under Flatford bridge. In this picture, a boy is disconnecting a rope and another sits astride a tow-horse. Constable painted the inscription to appear as if it had been scratched in the earth with a stick. Although the painting was probably executed largely on the spot, various details were almost certainly added in the studio, such as the boy and the horse, the timberwork in the foreground and the mooring-post on the left. It is known from x-rays that the artist painted out a horse on the tow-path and substituted the figures of two boys.

Constable evidently experienced difficulty painting outdoors on such a large canvas as this one, for after showing it at the Royal Academy in 1817, he repainted the tops of the trees and the entire sky, presumably in time for the picture's second showing at the British Institution in January 1818. Constable made several drawings and oil sketches of the subject from various angles, but the only certain preparatory studies for the picture are an oil sketch in the collection of David Thomson and two drawings, one in the Tate (Tate Gallery T05493 ). This is a pencil tracing of an image made with a brush on a sheet of glass held on an easel in front of the subject itself. The tracing was made by placing a piece of paper over the image on the glass, and was squared for transfer to the canvas. It contains the two barges but none of the figures seen in the painting.

Further reading: Leslie Parris and Ian Fleming-Williams, Constable, exhibition catalogue, Tate Gallery, London 1991, pp.17, 69, 120, 179-81, 229, 286, 413, 467, 469, 510, reproduced p.181 in colour Terry Riggs Read more Display caption Landscape painting flourished in the 19th century, ranging from the epic, through rustic nostalgia to the naturalism championed by John Constable. He based what he called his ‘natural painture’ on study of nature, experience of his subjects and attention to working life, especially in the Stour Valley where his father was a miller and merchant. When possible, he sketched or worked on pictures outdoors. Flatford Mill shows barges approaching Flatford footbridge after passing through the lock near his father’s mill. Its bright, airy realism was unprecedented at the time.

Gallery label, February 2016 Catalogue entry N01273 Scene on a Navigable River (Flatford Mill) 1816–17, dated & exhibited 1817 Oil on canvas, 40×50 (101.7×127). Inscribed by the artist ‘Joll Constable. f:1817.’ bottom centre, in simulation of writing incised in the earth. Prov: Executors of John Constable, sold Foster and Sons 16 May 1838 (54, ‘Flatford Mills, Horse and Barge’), bt. in by C.R. Leslie at £52.10s. for the Constable family; bequeathed by Isabel Constable to the National Gallery 1888, as the gift of Maria Louisa, Isabel and Lionel Bicknell Constable; transferred to the Tate Gallery 1957. Accession N01273. Exh: R.A. 1817 (255, ‘Scene on a navigable river’); B.I.

1818 (91, ‘Scene on the Banks of a River’, size of frame 58×68 inches); R.A., Old Masters, 1871(242); Leeds 1913(68); Tate Gallery 1937(p.18, No.31); Two Hundred Years of British Painting, Public Library and Art Gallery, Huddersfield, 1946(92); Hamburg, Oslo, Stockholm and Copenhagen 1949–50(14); Venice 1950(10); Manchester 1956(18); Moscow and Leningrad 1960(57); Tate Gallery 1971(92); Tate Gallery 1976(151). Engr: in mezzotint by David Lucas as ‘Flatford Mill’ and published by him 1845, although the publication line reads 1844 (Shirley 1930, No.46).

Lit: Holmes 1902, pp.83, 119, 243; Shirley 1937, pp.lxvii, 99,120; Davies 1946, pp.28–9; Kitson 1957, pp.344–5; Beckett 1961, Paintings: Suffolk B(40–41) No.86; Reynolds 1965, pp.56–60; Charles Rhyne, ‘Fresh Light on John Constable’, Apollo, LXXXVII, 1968, p.230; Taylor 1973, pp.28,41,43; Smart and Brooks 1976, pp.68–72, 134; Hoozee 1979, No.233. ‘Flatford Mill’, as it is generally called today, was the forerunner of the series of six-foot canvases of river subjects which Constable began exhibiting in 1819.

He had already shown a river landscape of the same size as No.14 - ‘Landscape: Boys fishing’ in 18131 - but this did not depict the working life of the Stour. In ‘Flatford Mill’ and the larger canvases that followed (‘The White Horse’, ‘Stratford Mill’, ‘The Hay Wain’ and so on), barges and bargees, towing-horses and their riders, and the operation of locks became central features. No.14 shows the view from the southern end of the footbridge at Flatford, looking along the tow-path to Flatford lock and the mill buildings beyond. The viewpoint, slightly above ground-level, is on the slope up to the bridge, the first timbers of which appear in the bottom left corner of the picture. On the river a pair or ‘gang’ of barges is about to be poled under the bridge. The figure crouching on the bank behind the towing-horse seems to be drawing in the disconnected tow-rope.

Like so many of Constable's pictures, the composition had its origin in the 1814 sketchbook (V.&A., r.132),2 page 61 of which (Fig.1), dated 14 August, corresponds fairly closely with the centre and right hand side of the painting . Page 63 in the same sketchbook (Fig.2) is not directly related but shows from a different angle the clump of trees seen at the fork of the river in the left middle-distance of No.14. Page 10 in the 1813 sketchbook (Fig.3, V.&A., r.121)3 gives a view of the whole scene but from the opposite bank, just upstream of the bridge. This variant composition appears again in an oil study now in the collection of Mr A.L.Gordon (Fig.4, h.170).4 Two further oil studies in private collections are more closely related to the painting.

In one (Fig.5, tg 1976 No.130, h.231)5 the river and mill buildings are seen from the bridge rather than from the slope up to it, while the other (Fig.6, tg 1976 No.131, h.232),6though vertical in format, presents the subject from more or less the same viewpoint as in the painting. However, the study (if study it is) most directly connected with No.14 is one formerly in the collection of P.A.B.Widener (Fig.7, W.Roberts, Pictures in the Collection of P.A.B.Widener ... British & Modern French Schools, 1915, No.2, h.617).7 This lacks the barges and human figures but includes the foreground horse and shows another horse further along the tow-path, where the two boys appear in No.14.

The authenticity of this work has been questioned but a point in its favour emerged when No.14 was x-rayed by the Courtauld Institute in 1975: Constable originally painted a horse in exactly the position indicated in the Widener picture, i.e. where the reclining boy now appears (Fig.8). Once looked for, the painted-out horse can still be seen. It seems likely that the standing boy with his long stick was originally shown feeding this horse and, perhaps because the incident distracted too much from the distant view, that Constable decided to move the animal to its present, less conspicuous position beside the lock, substituting for it a second, reclining, boy. The horse's collar and towing gear were, however, left behind on the grass beside the boy and his new companion. The two privately owned oil studies reproduced in Figs.5–6 and the Widener picture were presumably all made after 14 August 1814 since they omit a large branch which Constable noted on the foremost tree in his sketchbook drawing that day (Fig. 1).

On 12 September 1816, three weeks before their marriage, Constable wrote to Maria Bicknell from East Bergholt: ‘I am now in the midst of a large picture here which I had contemplated for the next exhibition - it would have made my mind easy had it been forwarder’ (JCC II, p.203). The picture was almost certainly ‘Flatford Mill’. Farington definitely saw it when he called on Constable on 2 January 1817 ‘to look at several painted studies from nature made by Him last Summer & autumn; also a large landscape composed of the Scenery abt Dedham in Essex.

I exhorted Him to compleat them.-’ (Farington was frequently rather vague about the topography of Constable's pictures).8 Although much approved by some Academicians (including Beechey, who seems to have set going a rumour about Constable's imminent election to the Academy: JCC II, pp.219–20), the painting attracted little notice at the 1817 exhibition and failed to sell.9 When he got it back Constable appears to have repainted the foliage at the top of the large tree at the right and most of the smaller tree behind it. Pentimenti can be seen in these areas and the 1975 x-rays show the shape of the smaller tree to have been more regularly curved, as on p.61 of the 1814 sketchbook (Fig. 1). A large, detailed drawing of the two trees (Fig.9, V.&A., r.161, tg 1976 No.154),10 dated 17 October 1817, i.e. well after the R.A.

exhibition, corresponds very exactly with the repainted areas, while differing in other parts, and was presumably made specifically for these revisions. Constable's further work on the picture made no difference to its immediate fate. It found no buyer when shown at the British Institution in 181811 and even twenty years later, in the artist's sale, failed to reach its reserve price. 1. Probably the picture in the Fairhaven Collection at Anglesey Abbey, which measures 40×49 1/2 inches (tg 1976 No.118, h.174). 2. Page size, 3 3/8×4 1/4 (8×10.8). 3. Pencil, 3 1/2×4 3/4 (8.9×12.1). 4. Oil on canvas, 9 13/16×7 1/2 (25×19). 5. Oil on paper, 4 1/2×6 1/8 (11.4×15.6). 6.

Oil on canvas, 9 1/2×7 1/2 (24.1×19). Ian Fleming-Williams suggests that this sketch is the earliest known example of Constable painting with a palette knife. 7. Oil on canvas, 13 1/2×16 1/4 (34.3×41.3). Fig.7 is taken from the illustration in the 1915 catalogue: the picture is untraced today. 8. The possibility that Constable was already working on ‘Flatford Mill’ in 1815 was discussed in a footnote to the entry on the picture in the 1976 Constable exhibition catalogue. That note, however, overlooked Beckett's plausible identification (JCC IV, p.45) of the picture Constable began in 1815 with the work D.P. Watts bought the following year, i.e. ‘A wood: Autumn’, exhibited at the R.A. in 1816. 9. The Literary Gazette, 10 May 1817, p.249, mentioned the painting as ‘a river scene, in very improved style’.

When the work reappeared at the British Institution the following year, the same journal commented: ‘There is quite a magical effect in this landscape, which reaches a degree of the deceptive in art which we rarely see displayed, without any of those sacrifices we find so often made to form, colour, or composition. It is in short a perfect panorama, but a panorama not indebted to the usual means called in to produce panoramic effect. The character of the pencilling is no less extraordinary; - and the making out of the foliage denotes great labour to attain the rude in nature, which is yet far removed from neglect’ (21 March 1818, p.186). 10. Pencil, 21 3/4×15 1/8 (55.2×38.5). 11. Annals of the Fine Arts, III, 1818, No.8, p.175 reported the sale of the picture to James Sedgwick but this was presumably a mistake since the painting appeared in the artist's sale in 1838.

The same journal named Thomas Barber as the purchaser of Constable's other exhibit at the British Institution that year, ‘A Cottage in a Cornfield’, but Constable had almost certainly sold this work to William Venables: see Ian Fleming-Williams, ‘A rediscovered Constable: the Venables Cottage in a Cornfield’, The Connoisseur, Vol.198, 1978, p.135. Judy Ivy kindly drew the reference in Annals of the Fine Arts to my attention. Published in:

Question: Who painted the Flatford Mill?
Answer: John Constable